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Smith bill helps secure fairness for Non-profits

Congressional Documents & Publications

WASHINGTON-- Within the President's $44 billion request on Friday to address ongoing hurricane recovery efforts is a critical provision that Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) has been fighting for since Hurricane Sandy. The Administration is supporting policies to enable houses of worship to be eligible for federal disaster relief, which is exactly what Smith's bipartisan bill H.R. 2405, Federal Disaster Assistance Nonprofit Fairness Act of 2017, calls for.

In a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Friday, requesting additional disaster assistance for FY 2018 for hurricane recovery efforts, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney stated:

"In addition, the Administration notes its support for legislation that would make houses of worship eligible for disaster relief funding (provided they meet the other relevant criteria for private non-profit facilities) and offers technical assistance regarding the timeframe for applicability."

Smith thanked the Administration for recognizing the needs of churches and faith-based organizations.

"I would like to thank the President for including this critical provision into his supplemental request. Faith-based organizations are hit just as hard as other private non-profits when natural disasters strike," Smith said.

"They don't need or want special treatment--but to be totally excluded from recovery programs is unjust and unfair, and discriminatory based on religion. It's ironic that churches, synagogues, and mosques are among the first to open their doors and serve victims of natural disasters--but also the first to be turned away from disaster assistance."

"This provision will go a long way to helping communities rebuild and recover," Smith said.

In October, Smith led a letter by members of Congress to President Trump, saying that FEMA's policy toward houses of worship was "discriminatory" and "a violation of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment." Some churches may not be able to reopen without federal assistance, the letter stated, and thus time is of the essence for the Administration to help them.

In the last 8 years, many churches, synagogues, non-profits, and other religious centers have been denied federal disaster relief because of their religious status, despite both severe--sometimes crippling--damage they may have sustained from natural disasters and essential services they provided to local disaster victims.

"FEMA's devastating policy must be changed quickly to provide aid for those currently in need, and so that it does not harm others in the future," Smith and the other members of Congress stated in the letter.

Yet FEMA's policy of excluding religious groups from disaster relief is not prescribed by law. Smith's bill would ensure that houses of worship and religious groups have equal access to disaster assistance as secular organizations.

Smith introduced a version of that legislation in 2013--H.R. 592, the Federal Disaster Assistance Nonprofit Fairness Act of 2013--in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, as churches and synagogues in New York and New Jersey were not able to receive needed federal disaster relief. That bill, which overwhelmingly passed the House 354-72, was blocked in the Senate by Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) on behalf of the Obama administration.

A consortium of faith-based entities, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Republican Jewish Coalition, Christian Legal Society, Agudath Israel of America, the International Conference of Evangelical Christian Endorsers, and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America have come out in support of Smith's policy proposal.

There is precedent for this inclusive policy. After the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, Congress overruled FEMA's policy of denying relief to churches damaged in the attack; after an earthquake in Seattle in 2002, FEMA was ordered by the Justice Department to grant assistance to local religious organizations which suffered damage.